Speaker Bios

Shagha is currently the Associate General Counsel at WestRock Company – a global provider of paper and packaging solutions for consumer and corrugated packaging markets.  Prior to joining WestRock, Shagha was a partner at a national law firm where she practiced for 12 years focused exclusively on employment defense work – both single plaintiff and class actions. Shagha attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degrees and attended UC Davis School of Law.

Ms. Zavala is an associate and recent graduate from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law. A first-generation college and graduate student, she received her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Zavala assists various partners and associates with business, litigation, and trust and estates matters.

Lacey advises her clients on a wide range of litigation matters involving technology, cyber threats, copyrights, trademarks, contracts, film and television production, and insurance coverage disputes. She has extensive experience litigating cases in federal and state courts and overseeing large-scale litigation and e-discovery projects on behalf of interactive media companies, gaming conventions, film producers, and movie studios. Lacey has also represented multinational insurers in high-exposure liability litigation and coverage matters.

Before pursuing her legal career, Lacey served as a project director and new media producer at Turner Classic Movies, which provided her with the foundation necessary to counsel on entertainment-related transactions, including negotiating and drafting film, television, and new media agreements. She is also often retained by gaming and social media companies to assist them on high-stakes copyright, trademark, and other IP matters.

Mark is an Associate General Counsel for Turner Construction Company, the largest general contractor in the U.S., building iconic projects like SoFi Stadium, home of the L.A. Rams, and the Korean Air Tower, the tallest building in Los Angeles. In his role, he is responsible for all legal matters in the West/Southwest regions from Seattle down through Texas. Prior to joining Turner, Mark was Deputy General Counsel of Clark Construction Group, LLC where he also served as one of 12 members of Clark’s D&I Board to advance DEI initiatives across the company. He graduated from Claremont McKenna College and USC Gould School of Law. Mark is a former President of the Japanese American Bar Association, current chair of JABA’s Programs Committee and formerly served on the Executive Committee for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles. He is a recipient of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s “Best Lawyers Under 40” award.”

Hih Song is Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at BlueTriton Brands, home of responsibly and sustainably sourced and packaged spring and purified water and beverages including Poland Spring®, Deer Park®, Ozarka®, Ice Mountain®, Zephyrhills®, Arrowhead®, Pure Life®, and Splash, and direct-to-consumer and office beverage delivery service, ReadyRefresh®. A member of the Executive team reporting to the CEO, Hih Song leads legal, regulatory, and government affairs and works closely with the Board overseeing corporate governance. She provides legal support and strategic direction for M&A, product innovation and incubation, intellectual property, corporate and regulatory compliance, legal and risk management, governmental and internal investigations, litigation, real estate, data privacy and security, general commercial matters, and sustainability.

Before Blue Triton, Hih Song served as SVP, General Counsel at Kaplan Test Prep, the largest subsidiary of Graham Holdings, Inc (NYSE:GHC). Prior to that, Hih Song was SVP, General Counsel for Stoli Group USA. Hih Song began her in-house career at Unilever, where she served as Assistant General Counsel – Marketing/Regulatory & Litigation and then served on Colgate-Palmolive's global legal team as Global Oral Care Counsel and Chief Litigation Counsel. Hih Song began her legal career in private practice as a corporate and litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. 

She is on the Board of Directors of Day One (nonprofit partnering with youth to end dating abuse and domestic violence) and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics and the Board of Directors of The Door (nonprofit providing comprehensive youth development services), Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT), and Urban Bush Women (modern dance company). Hih Song received her AB from Harvard University and JD from Harvard Law School. She is originally from North Carolina and resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Saerin Cho is an experienced mission-driven attorney, a nonprofit executive, and a law professor.  Saerin is the General Counsel of Digital Green Foundation, a global development organization that provides technology solutions for rural farmers to build prosperous communities.  She also teaches at the University of San Diego School of Law and serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Public Interest Registry (PIR) that manages mission-driven domains including .ORG.  Saerin holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in Taxation, Magna Cum Laude, from University of San Diego School of Law, and two B.A.s, Magna Cum Laude, in International Studies and Cum Laude, in Criminology, Law and Society from University of California, Irvine.  Saerin was born and raised in South Korea, moved to the U.S. as a teenager, and is of the first generation in her family to attend a university and law school.

Sanjesh Sharma is Senior IP Counsel at Johnson & Johnson Vision, where she manages all aspects of intellectual property for the company’s Refractive Surgery and Laser Cataract Surgery product lines, including managing domestic and international patent portfolios, litigation support, opposition practice, product clearances, due diligence for asset acquisitions and licensing, as well as copyright and trademark compliance.  Before moving in-house, she worked at various national and global law firms, focusing mainly on patent and trademark litigation, licensing, due diligence, and counseling involving a wide range of technologies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer electronics.

Sanjesh received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology from University of California, San Diego, and her law degree from Loyola Law School.  She currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Patent Interest Group for the IP Section of the California State Bar.  She regularly speaks on patents and in-house practice, and has been named Rising Star in Intellectual Property by Super Lawyers.

Jennifer Awrey is the Director of Staff Relations for Amgen Inc.  In her position, she leads a team of 18 people, including Amgen’s HR Investigations team, and HR professionals who advise on performance management, terminations, accommodations, and conduct investigations into misconduct.  Her team partners closely with Amgen’s Compliance and Legal departments on cross-functional issues and investigations.  She also serves as Amgen’s Ombudsperson and is responsible for maintaining Amgen’s global and domestic HR policies.  Previously at Amgen, she was the lead employment law attorney for the Global Commercial Organization and advised on all aspects of employment law including compensation, discrimination and harassment, and equal pay.  Prior to joining Amgen, she practiced employment litigation in big law firms for approximately ten years.  Jennifer graduated with a B.A. from the University of Washington, and she earned a J.D. and an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from Cornell University.

Julie O’Dell is a partner with more than two decades of experience focusing her practice on labor and employment law, as well as managing class and collective actions and other complex litigation matters.

She counsels and assists clients on employment-related issues for compliance with federal and state employment laws, discipline and termination, requests for accommodation, and leaves of absence. She also represents clients against claims of wage and hour violations, including class and representative actions.

Julie has defended clients against employment-related claims brought under Title VII and has an incredible depth of experience navigating California’s complex employment and labor laws, including California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, the California Labor Code and matters involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge and Private Attorneys General Act claims. She also handles all phases of employment disputes, from pre-litigation stages to trial, before federal and state agencies, arbitrators and courts.

Additionally, Julie reviews and drafts employee handbooks, policies and various employment agreements, and she provides training to employers for addressing harassment, leaves of absence, workplace violence and employee complaints.

Lara Shortz leads the Labor & Employment Practice Group at M&R and is the firm’s Employment Advice, Counsel & Executive Disputes Chair. Operating out of the Los Angeles office, Lara is also the Firm Recruiting Partner and, in that capacity, she is tasked with implementing M&R’s strategic plan to expand upon its roster of talented attorneys nationwide.

Named in 2022 as one of the most influential women attorneys in L.A. by the Los Angeles Business Journal (recognition she has earned multiple times), Lara handles the full spectrum of employment-related issues on behalf of management. That being said, she is particularly known for her work advising domestic and international companies on major growth and hiring initiatives as well as workforce reductions. In fact, Lara handled the coordinated, temporary and permanent layoffs of thousands of hotel and restaurant employees (among others) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved state and federal WARN Act issues.

In addition, Lara is sought after to negotiate complex employment agreements, navigate restrictive covenant issues, and litigate executive disputes. Over the years, countless professionals in C-Suite positions have leaned upon her when transitioning to new companies.

In terms of her litigation prowess, Lara has compiled an extraordinary record of wins representing high-profile businesses facing state and federal gender-based claims, including claims of pay equity and #MeToo-related causes of action. Further, she has successfully defended scores of clients in the hospitality space, among other industries, in wage and hour class and collective actions (PAGA)—this on top of her many additional successes litigating single plaintiff discrimination, harassment and retaliation matters at both the state and federal levels.

Beyond the courtroom, a significant portion of Lara’s practice involves advice and counsel, as reflected in her chair designation. Not only does she provide guidance on a variety of legal and human resources issues (lawful hiring practices, leaves of absence, employee classification and wage and hour compliance), investigations (sexual harassment, discrimination and employee and executive misconduct), administrative and internal compliance audits, and supervisor and management trainings (including sexual harassment prevention), Lara also helps emerging companies establish their employment infrastructure in the form of policies, best practices and operational mechanisms to support growth and facilitate investment.

Michelle Choe is Senior Counsel for Apple Media Services at Apple Inc., advising clients across various products and services, including Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Fitness+. Prior to joining Apple, Michelle was a technology transactions and copyright litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP, representing clients on music, software, and entertainment deals, in mergers and acquisitions, and in general commercial, copyright infringement and constitutional rights litigation. She also was an inaugural Barbara A. Ringer Honors Fellow at the U.S. Copyright Office, advising Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice on complex copyright issues and conducting industry-wide policy studies and rulemaking proceedings. Michelle received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her B.A. from Columbia University.

Thy represents employers in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff lawsuits in state and federal court.  She regularly defends employers in lawsuits alleging causes of action for discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour violations, and other statutory and common-law claims arising from the employment relationship.  In addition to her litigation practice, Thy also performs workplace investigations and provides day-to-day counseling advice to employers. She is exceptionally skilled in all facets of courtroom advocacy, fact gathering, discovery, law and motion practice, and legal research.  She is often able to resolve matters quickly and efficiently, through creative and sometimes unconventional case strategy. She has been recognized as one of the “Best Under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2020), one of the “Top 50 Up-and-Coming Women” and “Top 100 Up-and-Coming” by Southern California Super Lawyers® (2020-2022).

Rachel Waranch is Managing Counsel for Chanel, Inc., where she partners with the business and advises on a wide array of matters, with a focus on media, digital, public relations, marketing, events, retail, and data privacy. She oversees, drafts, and negotiates a wide variety of contracts in these areas, and is deeply involved in the company’s charitable foundation, having helped set up the legal structure in the United States. She has also managed the protection of Chanel’s intellectual property rights in the United States.

Prior to joining Chanel as in-house counsel, Rachel was an associate at Kaufman, Borgeest & Ryan, and interned at Chanel and Kate Spade while in law school. Rachel graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with honors, majoring in English and minoring in business, and received her J.D. from Cardozo Law School where she received a Dean’s Merit Scholarship and served as Acquisitions Editor of the Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. Originally from Baltimore, Rachel lived in New York City for almost ten years, and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Nicole Reyes is the Vice President of Business Affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment. She is responsible for structuring, negotiating and managing deals for all facets of scripted and unscripted television development, production and acquisitions. Prior to that, she was a Business Affairs Executive of NBCUniversal. Nicole earned her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and B.A. in Public Policy and Sociology.